Association of Military Sexual Trauma With Migraine and Migraine-Related Health Care Utilization Among Post-9/11 US...

Military sexual trauma (MST) is increasingly recognized in US veterans. MST is associated with psychiatric disease, substance abuse, and pain conditions, including headache. Little is known about the relationship between MST and specific headache disorders.

This retrospective cross-sectional study analyzed administrative data from the Women Veterans Cohort Study, a sample of post-9/11 US veterans enrolled for Veterans Health Administration care. A positive MST screen in the electronic medical record defined exposure. We extracted demographic and clinical data from administrative coding for migraine and relevant confounders, comparing between subgroups with χ² tests. Health care utilization variables included designated sites of care and prescribed acute and preventive treatments and were evaluated with multivariable logit, negative binomial (nb), and zero-inflated nb models.

Of 846,435 veterans screened for MST, 4.4% of veterans had a positive screen, whereas 9.5% had migraines. Veterans with migraine and a positive MST screen (21.7%) were more often non-White (45.3% vs 38.6%, p < 0.001), and 33 or less years old (55% vs 53%, p < 0.001) than veterans with migraine and a negative MST screen (9.0%). Adjusting for sex, the odds of migraine were greater for veterans with a positive MST screen (OR 1.62, 95% CI 1.57-1.67). Veterans with migraine and a positive MST screen were no more likely to receive triptan medications than veterans with migraine (46.2% vs 45.7%, p = 0.47) although were more likely to be prescribed opioids (36.1% vs 33.4%, p ≤ 0.001), compared with those with migraine and a negative MST screen. After controlling for sex, comorbidities (including chronic pain conditions), treatments, and other health care use, health care utilization was increased among migraine veterans with a positive MST screen, compared with migraine veterans without a positive MST screen for primary care (IRR 1.06, 95% CI 1.04-1.08, p < 0.001) and emergency department care (IRR 1.14, (95% CI 1.07-1.22), whereas neurology visits were not increased (IRR 0.97, 95% CI 0.92-1.02).

Veterans with a positive MST screen constitute a vulnerable population more likely to have migraine, take opioid medications, and use emergency departments for migraine care.